German War Veterans Pay Respects to Fallen Comrades and Aid Victors
13 июля, 00:00
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By Volodymyr KONIEV, The Day
A unique cemetery for German soldiers who died in World War II was established
in Rivne oblast eight years ago. 199 Wehrmacht soldiers killed in the vicinity
of Rivne in 1941 were buried near the village of Bronnyky. The soldiers'
cemetery was long neglected and in ruins, but in the early 1990s through
the joint efforts of local residents and war veterans from Germany it was
restored. The relatives of the Wehrmacht soldiers who perished in distant
Ukraine come and visit their graves. And recently, the burial place was
visited by Michael Beer, aged 86, a former soldier of the 35th Infantry
Regiment, last survivor of the battle, and now a Roman Catholic priest.
Together with an Orthodox priest, he held a memorial service for the fallen
German soldiers. A similar ceremony took place nearby at a cemetery for
Soviet soldiers who died during the war. When visiting the military cemetery,
the former Wehrmacht soldier could not hold back his tears. At meetings
with Rivne oblast residents, German veterans talked about the need for
reconciliation and a search for new forms of cooperation between the citizens
of two countries which fought each other half a century ago. However, it
is obviously too early to discuss a fundamentally new relationship between
the former adversaries, and cooperation is largely limited to German humanitarian
aid to Rivne oblast. As far as serious projects are concerned, they remain
mostly on paper. Still, the German veterans have not lost hope and continue
to help the former victors. For instance, in the last few years Josef Brizinsky
of the small town of Oberfichtach, who lost both feet in the war, has made
more than twenty truck deliveries to Rivne.
